The present invention is particularly concerned with the automation of the voting process, and effecting such automation with equipment that is readily understood and easily operable by the voter, positive and rapid in operation, and extremely secure against intentional tampering and untoward mechanical and electrical troubles. In the past various efforts have been made to automate the election process and simplify the tallying of the votes. A familiar example of an early machine is the mechanical voting machine used in many large cities. In general, there is some mechanical movement in such machines with the registration of each party or candidate selection by the voter. With each mechanical part and movement there is a corresponding possibility that this part will break down on the election day. In addition the use of particular actuators for a specific party or a specific candidate raises the possibility of such party or candidate being effectively precluded from receiving votes if a single actuator is tampered with or becomes inoperable. For these reasons considerable effort has been expended to further automate and simplify the voting process.
One example of such an improvement is described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,793,505 - McKay et al, entitled "Electronic Voting Machine." The patent describes the use of suitable film projection apparatus, such as a 35 millimeter projector with forward and reverse drive controls, for projecting successive frames or ballot pages onto a screen for candidate selection by the voter as he activates individual buttons at the candidate locations. The patent describes a system for controlling both operation of the voting buttons and operation of the vote counters (including identification of voting categories) by the use of components (such as phototransistors) positioned adjacent the screen, such that the light projecting the candidates names will also strike the phototransistors and provide control signals.
There are many complicated problems connected with the usual election procedures. One problem is that of straight-ticket voting as opposed to ballot splitting among candidates of different political parties. Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a simple, automated voting system in which straight-party votes can be cast, and a single vote (or more, if desired) for a candidate from another party can still be entered simply by changing the selection in that particular race.
Another important consideration is the use of proportional voting, where it is allowed. For example, in a vote for a board of regents, there may be six candidates with the instruction to vote for as many as three candidates. If three are selected, each gets one vote; if two candidates are chosen, each receives 11/2 votes; and if only one is selected, he receives three votes. Proportional voting requires mental computations when paper ballots are used, and additional mechanical parts when a mechanical voting machine is used. It is therefore another important object of this invention to provide for proportional voting with a simple memory circuit arrangement which facilitates the use of proportional voting in any contest where it is desired.
Another important consideration is that some races may have more candidates than can readily be displayed on a single horizontal row or vertical column of the display presented to the voter. With a paper ballot this presents no problem, as the additional names are merely added to the list. It is therefore a salient object of this invention to provide a flexible-format candidate presentation for each race, where the space for a given race can be extended to include the next row (or column) simply by pushing a button or by some equally simple control arrangement.
It is not always possible with automated machinery to regulate the maximum number of votes which can be cast in a given race, when this maximum number exceeds one. It is therefore an important object of this invention to provide a flexible-format arrangement in which the maximum number of votes can be preset when the equipment is prepared for the election. A related important object is to provide such a format of enhanced flexibility, so that when a given race is extended to present candidates on the next row (or column), the maximum number of votes to be cast in that race can also be increased.
A corresponding object of the invention is to provide a data center coupled to the voting machine (or vote head), for generating a train of signals which are passed to the vote head to continually determine the status of all the buttons and switches on the vote machine, returning this information to the data center for registration as candidate votes.
Another important object of the invention is to provide such a system in which a plurality of machines (or vote heads) can be served simultaneously by the same data center.
Another important consideration is to provide such a system in which the data center is a stored program data processor, serving the multiple vote heads on-line and in real time, maintaining a continuous count of the votes for each candidate or question.
Still another important object of the invention is to provide a permanent record, such as a magnetic tape, which both includes a part of the stored program for the particular election, and is used at the end of the election to record the election results in permanent form without the need to perform a secondary data recording operation.
An important object of the invention is the provision of positive identification of each frame or ballot page projected to the voter, which identification is utilized to refer to the stored program for establishing the validity of certain buttons in the vote head to perform candidate selection, and then directing the vote selection into the appropriate memory storage of the data center.
Another important object of the invention is to allow the voter to change individual selections on each frame (ballot page), and to review the entire ballot -- making changes in the votes entered, if desired -- before the votes are "cast" by entry in the appropriate memory of the data center.